but their concerns were dismissed as "depressing"

It's Valentine's Day! That means it's the last day for 14valentines, and that means I get to talk about something that's been big in the news lately: the environment.

Now, most of you are of the same generation as I am, which means we grew up celebrating Earth Day and learning to recycle and stuff like that. Which is great, but there's so much more to be done.

Sustainability is a cause I believe strongly in, but I have to admit that in some ways it's just too expensive for us average people to invest in. I certainly don't have the money for a hybrid car or the willpower to give up meat or anything like that, but at the same time it frightens me horribly that the place where I grew up (along with some forty-odd low-lying island states worldwide) is in danger of drowning in the next thirty years due to the melting icecaps. I don't want to have a hand in sinking islands, jesus.

Everyone has their own routine of stuff that they do to be environmentally conscious. Here are a few of my tips, because I find them painless to do and the best place to start is to do something painless. As an added bonus, all of these tips will *save* you money, which is why I was raised to follow most of them to begin with! And if any of you have money-saving green tips, please share them in the comments.

- turn off the lights when you leave a room; set your computer to hibernate
- wash clothes in cold water; hang them to dry when possible
- re-use/re-purpose whenever possible (ziploc bags, grocery & produce bags, fast-food napkins [i keep excess takeout napkins in the car])
- try going shampoo-free or using natural cleaners
- run the dishwasher only when it's full; try to cook multiple things if you use the oven
- buy produce from a local farmer's market/stand (it will be fresher, often cheaper, and will have traveled less to get to you)
- scale back on the following: red meat, excess packaging, heating & air conditioning
- recycle everything you can! IKEA will take depleted batteries; Office Max will take used printer cartridges; charities will take broken electronics, old clothes & magazines & videos, and whatever else
- and I can't stress this one enough: AVOID BOTTLED WATER. I understand if your municipal water happens to be unsafe; what I'm talking about is if you live somewhere that the water's good (which, let's put it in context, is most of the developed world) and you still insist on buying bottles of Dasani. What you are doing is paying an exorbitant amount for a BASIC HUMAN NECESSITY, which signals to corporations that they are completely within their rights to place this market value on water and charge impoverished people for water security. People, I'm not just harping on this bottled water thing because I dislike Coca-Cola's politics; there are serious consequences for us 'First-Worlders' monetarily and the rest of the world resource-wise and survival-wise if we continue turning something as elemental as water into a fucking designer accessory. If you absolutely cannot live without bottled water, at least consider buying the generic grocery brand. It'll taste pretty much the same (since after all bottled water is drawn from your municipal source) and it'll save you some change.

Whew! And now that I've flipped my shit over bottled water and its EVILS, here's some music! ( artists m to z. )

14 Valentines: V-Day